> Furthermore parsing JSON or YAML gives you the basic data types like lists and dictionaries. Parsing XML gives you an AST that requires a lot more effort to t

> Furthermore parsing JSON or YAML gives you the basic data types like lists and dictionaries. Parsing XML gives you an AST that requires a lot more effort to turn into data in your domain. More precisely: in XML, elements (nodes) are named/labeled. ("node-labeled graph") In JSON, keys (edges) are named. ("edge-labeled graph") In programming, we need names for the fields in our structures (edges between objects), so JSON is a much better match than XML (which needs contortions to handle this use case -- e.g. by having nesting levels alternate between element=node and element=edge). Only in some object-oriented cases (which derived class should the deserializer construct?) do you care about node labels -- but usually that's in addition to edge labels, so a "_type" key in JSON is still easier than XML.